Appeals court denies rehearing in child sex case

MONTGOMERY -- A state appeals court Friday rejected an application for a rehearing for an Athens lawyer convicted of sexual abuse, enticing a minor and unlawful imprisonment.

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals had affirmed the conviction on Dec. 11 of John Hamilton McLain V, but he sought a rehearing.

The court did not issue an opinion in denying his request.

McLain, 51, was charged following a July 2008 incident in which he admitted picking up two girls ages 12 and 13 near Madison Square Mall after midnight.

McLain drove them to his home in Athens, where they spent the night in separate rooms.

The girls said they didn't try to escape or call for help because, at one point in the car, McLain displayed a gun.

During the trial in February, the girls testified that McLain briefly touched one girl's chest and the bathing suit top of the other. They said that the following morning McLain walked around nude and fondled himself in front of them.

McLain, who is serving a six-year sentence, has a scheduled release date of Feb. 11, 2015.